New fashions, avatars, structures, and other builds. And the work behind them.

Friday, April 8, 2016

Strawberryland

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Here we are exploring our second art exhibit in a row. It wasn't
planned, but I got a staff notice that was looking for a reporter to
check out "Strawberryland," by Cica Ghost. My ears perked up, as I
recalled my recent article, "Roots," by the same artist, last January. I
found her art to be very simple, but radiating subtle mental imagery,
through all of our senses. It even smelled good.

On the return visit, as my landing spot rezzed, I spotted a lady in a
black dress, standing in front of me. Her name tag showed her to be the
artist, Cica Ghost. I introduced myself as a reporter for the SL Newser,
that had written about her last show and was now reviewing
Strawberryland. She asked for the URL of the Newser and I gave it. I
sensed that neither of us was prepared for an interview, but perhaps she
could answer a question or two. In my mind, I am about to judge her art
on how well it communicates ideas to me. I couldn't ask her, what's the
meaning behind this or that, so I let the technical artist in me blurt
out, "Are all you art objects made from sculpties or mesh?". She seemed
proud to announce that they were all mesh. There was a steady trickle of
new visitors to the exhibit, wishing to bestow at-a-girls and pats on
the back side, so I thanked Cica for her time and inched away, pointing
at my camera.

I think good art should convey a message, from the mind of the artist to
the mind of the observers. I wanted to see more of what's inside Cica's
imagination. After finding the link for Strawberry Land, in the
Destination Guide, I made a short, scouting trip to make a LM and take a
quick look about. First impression? I would return, a.s.a.p. and take
pictures.

Within a few feet of the meeting with Cica, I snapped a photo of a
small, table top model of a house and flowers. What made it unusual was
it had a background picture of sky and it and the flowers were moving,
as if being blown by wind. I didn't realize, until later when I cropped
all the photos, that this first model sculpture was a key to
understanding the language being spoken, throughout the rest of the sim.

The first thing you notice is all the strawberries. When I think of the
song "Strawberry Fields", I picture a place and event, but no fruit. In
Strawberryland they are plentiful and BIG. How big? I walked into a
small greenhouse, with a starter plant and baby strawberries. I estimate
them to be about 30 inches tall. Strawberries also brought the smell of
the fruit to mind. To my nose, the taste and smell of strawberries is
right in the middle of the scale. It's OK, but I don't seek them for
myself. On the other hand, the smell of synthetic strawberry flavor
(ester) has always raised a red flag in me. As before, Cica's art spoke
through my nose.

Strawberries aren't the only big thing here. I felt about one foot tall,
through most of the exhibit. I begin to notice another theme among some
of these large sculptures. Although they contain no animated parts,
they display motion, like wind blowing hair and cloth or wheeled carts
under sculptures to move them around.

As we continue the tour, I remark to myself that this exhibit seems more
colorful than the previous one. An industrial looking building, with
rusting metal sides, is just ahead. Inside, we can see a collection of
smaller sculptures, so we open the metal gate and go inside.

I recognized the objects as being ones that were used in "Roots", but
these had somehow been made anew. They had been painted, but not in the
way a normal house is. It's more like they were splattered with
different colors. As I head to the next area, I remark to myself, "She's
added a splash of color this time".

At the painter sculpture, we see several of the communicated ideas come
together in one spot. A big man, covered in a rainbow of paint spills,
is splattering two different colors on one wall, as his hair blows in
the wind and an impatient horse waits in front of the biggest strawberry
on the island, to be taken somewhere else.

Down the path, we find a boy and girl enjoying this impression of wind.
Looking back at the picture, it's hard to believe that nothing in this
scene was moving.

So readers, let us review what these objects d'art have communicated to
us today. We had strawberries. Did you taste them? We had the motion of
wind and wheels. Did you feel the rush? We had a splash of color. Did
you get wet? Perhaps, if these three key ideas were placed end to end,
in the right order, they might form a complete sentence, a thank you
from Cica Ghost to the visitors of Strawberryland. I'll leave that for
the readers to decipher. Meanwhile, I get out my tape measure to
calculate if I can build an island with this huge strawberry.